


a reason to stay

by days4daisy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Extra Treat, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Power Swap, Roleswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25194649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/days4daisy/pseuds/days4daisy
Summary: Gamora makes a subtle motion towards her nose. Thor follows on his own, and winces when he grazes the scar line. “It’s not bad,” he says. His grimace turns into a knowing smile. “Could have been a lot worse. Have you always been able to do that? The whole light show thing?”
Relationships: Gamora/Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13
Collections: Little Black Dress Exchange 2020





	a reason to stay

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Etnoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Etnoe/gifts).



> I hope you have a lovely exchange, Etnoe!

Gamora finds Thor seated on a workbench in the cargo bay sharpening his knives. The metal clangs with every strike like a hand saw. His head stays down, but Gamora knows he's heard her. The posture gives it away, how he straightens in his seat.

There is a crescent-shaped scar across the bridge of Thor’s nose. Gamora missed how it happened during the fight. The once-open line is crusting with the start of a scab. His nose doesn't look broken, at least. It’s just a laceration and the impact. Two matching shiners, yellowish-green, are forming under Thor’s eyes.

“You should let me clean that,” Gamora says.

Gamora has been on their ship for four months, but she's jarred every time by Thor's missing eye. A gold plate sits where his right eye should be. Gamora can almost make out her reflection in the metal.

“What?” Thor asks.

Gamora makes a subtle motion towards her nose. Thor follows on his own, and winces when he grazes the scar line on his nose. “It’s not bad,” he says. His grimace turns into a knowing smile. “Could have been a lot worse. Have you always been able to do that? The whole light show thing?”

Gamora has tried to explain what being the Goddess of Thunder means. How the great hammer Mjolnir once channeled her power, but since its destruction she controls it on her own. But it makes sense that she confuses him. He confuses her too, with his long silences and the scars she sees when he undresses.

“Most of my life, yeah,” Gamora says. She crosses to set patient hands on his shoulders. His hands still on his knife. One blue eye from Thor always has enough hidden depth for two. “Let me rephrase,” Gamora continues. “You’re _going_ to let me clean that.”

Thor chuckles. He wants to argue, Gamora sees it. But she also sees that he’s tired, a droop to his usually straight shoulders. Thor nods without a fight and sets his weapon and sharpener on the bench.

It’s more cooperation than Gamora usually gets from Thor. She walks off to find the ship’s supply kit.

When Gamora returns, she eases back into Thor’s space. He stiffens at first, he always does, but he’s faster to relax than he used to be. Gamora seats herself in his lap, straddling his waist. She sets the medical kit between their stomachs.

Thor chuckles again, winding arms around her waist. His hugs are a paradox, strong and gentle at the same time. “I can do it,” he says.

“I can do it too,” Gamora answers. She smiles, and he smiles back. Gamora took a keen interest in Thor’s smiles after joining the Guardians' crew. She finds herself noting their frequency and size. Every time, she tries to decide if he's really happy or covering something else.

This smile from Thor is small but feels sincere.

Gamora unlatches the kit and starts with the salve. Thor tenses when she dabs the oil onto his nose, but he exhales quickly, pain forgotten.

It was a mission like any other. The Guardians were after their usual payload. Stealing back stolen cargo from bad people and ensuring themselves a good pay day. It’s an amusing life. Gamora wasn’t expecting to stick with them for so long. She has her own quest: locating the infinity stones and any information on the one they call the Mad Titan.

Her original reason for sticking around was Thor, but not in a personal sense. She learned early on that Thor was a child of Thanos, though not by blood. The Titan raised him to serve, and Thor did for a time. That allegiance was severed years ago, but there are few who can give more insight into Thanos than Thor.

She also benefited from the Guardians’ missions across the cosmos. In all honesty, Gamora doesn’t have much of a lead on the stones. She has what little insight she could gather from her vision. Nebula would have been helpful on a mission of this magnitude. She knew the ancient texts and history better than anyone.

“Are you alright?” Thor asks.

Gamora isn’t surprised that the grief still shows. Despite their...complicated relationship, Gamora will never stop missing her sister. She died a hero of Asgard, fading away in Gamora’s arms. Late at night, Gamora still cries and hugs her pillow as she thinks of her sister. She will never forgive fate for stealing the time she should have had with Nebula. They should have had more time to mend what was broken.

Thor is looking at her, concern pulling at the corners of his mouth. Gamora eases his thoughts with a kiss, the final reason why her stay with the Guardians continues. She did not mean for this part to happen. But Gamora understands Thor on a level few people could. She knows his pain and his family complications. He is a warrior in his own right, groomed as such by his father, born into his own at his brother’s expense.

Their lips come apart with a soft pop. Thor’s eye remains closed a moment longer than Gamora’s. His tongue shifts across his mouth, and she warms in his lap. Thor reminds her so much of the warriors back home - large and sturdy, worthy of trust.

But she has an objective. Salve applied, it’s time for the bandaging. This part proves easier than the disinfectant. There is no wince upon application. A few simple taps of tape, and the job is done, a thin white strip covering the scar on Thor’s nose.

Thor’s eye roll makes it clear how unnecessary he finds this, but he sighs and bears it, holding Gamora’s gaze. She loves the way he looks at her. It’s far too early for her to ‘love’ anything about him, but shared causes tend to bring about closeness. Gamora’s loyalty to the Midgard’s Avengers is proof enough.

“You’ve never told me how you got this,” Gamora says. She traces a finger along the outline of Thor’s eye guard.

Thor’s smile tempers to a more serious line. “It’s not a fun tale,” he says.

Few of Thor’s are, by the little they’ve spoken about his past. Another thing Gamora can relate to. She can still feel Nebula’s body cooling in her arms. “You don’t have to tell it,” she tells him.

Thor’s mouth purses in thought. He looks away, head turned at an angle that pulls his neck tight. Under different circumstances, Gamora would want to nibble his tension away. For now, she waits for him to decide whether to speak.

He looks back at her and takes a deep breath. “My father forced competition between me and my brother. It was manipulation, I think. I always won our bouts. I was stronger than Loki, and I say this without vanity. He and I are different. I was trained physically, diligently, and my training allowed me to defeat him day after day.

“Every time I defeated Loki, Thanos would...take something from him.” Thor’s gaze drifts, mouth a tight line. “A finger one day, his hair the next. He so loved his hair..." He lowers his head. "After that, it was his skin that Thanos took. He installed a metal panel here. Cogs and screws there. I couldn’t take it one day. I threw down my arms, and I refused to win. I invited Thanos to do his worst.”

Thor smiles, small and bitter. “He didn’t even take my eye himself. He had the Maw do it with his tools. They kept me awake through the whole procedure. It took 8 hours. I doubt it needed to take that much time, but...”

Thor sighs. “From that day forward, I always won. Even with my single eye. I defeated Loki day after day after day. I even reveled in my victories. I was never going to experience such pain and humiliation again. I would stay whole, even if Loki could not.” His single eye closes. “I was a coward.”

Gamora places fingers under his chin. His beard scratches at her skin.

When he looks at her, his single eye is too hollow. She shakes her head. “You were children, Thor. You were scared. And you have time to make things right. Your brother is still out there.” Unlike Gamora’s own sister, left for dead on Svartalfheim.

Thor shakes his head. “I’m not sure I can.”

Gamora knows this sentiment well. The pain of losing Nebula and her mother loom large. She has not returned to Asgard once since earning her father’s permission to deny the throne. Rulership waits for Gamora upon her return, but she can't return. Not until more of the infinity stones reveal themselves to her.

Gamora brushes fingers through Thor’s hair. His hands sit low on her back, enveloping her spine. It would be nice to melt into his chest and forget all about what lies beyond this moment.

It feels good to kiss Thor. For him, she gladly lets her lips slack, enjoying the ease with which he tastes her.

The moment breaks on a grunt and Thor wincing back from her. His nose, she realizes, nuzzled by the tip of her own. She can’t help but laugh. “Guess I’ll need to go easier on you for awhile.”

“Can’t see why,” Thor says. His hands flatten up her back, warm and weighted. She is quick to move the medical kit to the work bench. It lets her slide down in his lap to settle in a more enjoyable place. Thor wears thigh-hugging trousers that leave little to the imagination. Though Thor is not aroused, Gamora still feels the outline of him between her thighs.

“A health scan might be a good idea.” Gamora shrugs a nonchalant shoulder. “Make sure there’s nothing else that needs disinfecting.” She gives Thor’s tunic a tug.

“A health scan,” Thor echoes with a smile. “And why do I have a feeling I won’t be on a med bed for this exam?”

“You’ll be on _my_ bed,” Gamora reasons. She speaks against his ear, and he seems to enjoy the warmth of her breath. His good eye closes, and his arms shift to tighten around her waist. He’s found his way under the hem of her shirt.

“I’m fine,” Thor says. He gives a serious diagnosis, but the shine in his eyes gives him away. “But...I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to be sure.”

Gamora voices her agreement with another kiss. He enjoys her presumption if his groan is any indication. She squeezes her legs around his waist, and the start of his swelling presses against her. Gamora feels warm and ready.

Still tangled in each other, Thor stands . Despite what and who Gamora is, crown princess and god, Thor holds her easily. He is able to support her with one arm as he bends for his knife and returns it to its holster on his belt.

Then, his hands roam up her back, her top hiked around his wrists. The stale air of the ship cools her exposed skin. With anyone else, Gamora would protest about the lack of decorum. But her sleeping quarters are not far, and she has always enjoyed when a warrior exerts his might. On the battlefield mostly, but this? This is nice too.

Thor huffs approval against her lips. “Your body feels like it’s made of cotati metal fibers,” he marvels.

“It’s not,” Gamora says, because she can’t think of anything more appropriate. Not with the distraction of Thor's mouth. She wants him, probably too much. Her sole focus should be the stones. But the Norns have seen fit to bring Thor and his crew into Gamora’s life. She isn’t sure how or why, but until that purpose reveals itself she’s glad to enjoy the fruits of this new partnership.

Hand threaded in Thor's hair, legs locked around his waist, Gamora gives Thor a tug in the direction of her room.


End file.
